Many providers of communication services employ a multi channel processing unit (MCPU) which includes, for example, a plurality of remote-access servers, such as modems, Fax handlers and voice Internet Protocol (VoIP) services connected to telephone switches. Some multi channel processing unit (MCPU), such as the Surf Multi-access Pool (SMP) available from Surf Communication Solutions Ltd., and servers of 3Com, Ascend, ADI, Connexent, Telogy, and Hothaus, are multi-channel software servers which have a capacity to handle concurrently, on a single processor, a plurality of connections. Generally, for each connection the MCPU runs a plurality of modules which perform the various tasks of handling the connection. The handling of each connection requires an amount of processing power which generally depends on the type of the connection handled (e.g., modem, fax, voice). The amount of processing power required by a specific connection may vary over time due to changes in the signal transmission rate or voice coder used on the connection, changes in the specific types of the connections handled by the MCPU and/or transient conditions such as the specific data sequence being transmitted. Since, it is generally not possible to predict the exact amount of processing power required on a specific connection, a commonly employed practice is to set for each processor a maximal number of connections it can handle based on a maximal processing power which may be required by each connection. This, however, results in a waste of processing power as at most times the utilization of the processor is much lower than its maximal capacity.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,995,540 to Draganic, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a software modem executed on a general purpose computer. When the modem requires lower amounts of processing power, the excess processing power may be used by other tasks running on the general purpose computer.